


Turf League Chronicles

by fruitycat, Saliod



Category: Splatoon, Splatoon 2
Genre: Gen, League Battle, Turf wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 09:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14615526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruitycat/pseuds/fruitycat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saliod/pseuds/Saliod





	1. Chapter 1

Blake awoke to a knock on his door, followed by a deep, yet gentle voice calling his name.

“Blake, breakfast!”

His sister. He’d recognize that voice anywhere, even half asleep and hunched over at his desk. And oh, shrimp, that meant he had passed out at his desk again. He attempted to push himself up off the stacked papers in front of him, only for them to stick to his face as he got up. Groaning, he peeled off the stubborn pages to examine the damage. The ink - no, not that kind of ink - was totally smudged. He definitely had to draw that panel again.

See, Blake was an artist, and for years now, he had been working on an original comic. Electric Ink Boy. The story of a striking young inkling, the power of the Great Zapfish running through his veins. A strong, confident boy whose banana yellow tentacles just _coincidentally_ matched his own -

“This is important, you know!” his sister called again.

“‘I’m up, I’m up!” Blake said a little too frantically. He grabbed his beanie off the back of his chair, wincing at the noise his spine made. Falling asleep hunched over in a desk chair was definitely _not_ ideal. He pulled the stupid hat over his head, pushed back his overgrown tentacles, and stumbled out of his room in his pyjamas.

“What is it,” the boy sighed, more out of instinct than genuine curiosity.

His sister, Bayley, was already dressed, ready to take on the day. She had been kind enough to lay out some fruit and cereal for him on the table, but before Blake could sit down, she stopped him with a look. She tilted her head, and Blake was about to ask what was wrong, before she answered his question herself.

“You have some black ink on your face,” she chuckled lightly, cradling her brother’s face with her hand. Honestly, it wasn’t fair how much taller she was, weren’t twins supposed to stay the same? Silently, Bayley wet her thumb and attempted to clean the ink off, but to no avail.

“It’s good stuff, it won’t come off like that,” Blake noted turning away to dodge her hand, “Waterproof.”

“That’s a shame, really,” Bayley sighed with a shrug, “You’ll want to make a good impression today, you know.”

Blake finally found his seat at the table, fixing himself a bowl of cereal. It took him some time to process what his sister just said.

“Good impression, huh?” he hummed, currently more interested in breakfast.

“Yep, because today, you’ll be joining my team in a Turf War!”

At this, Blake nearly choked on his cereal, sending himself into a brief coughing fit. Bayley was quick to console him, giving him a hearty few pats on the back.

“There, there, cough it out,” she said, rubbing his shoulders. Once he recovered, Blake immediately swatted her hands away.

“I’ll be WHAT?!” he spluttered, whipping around - and ouch, his spine - to look his sister dead on. “Could’ve at least given me a heads up first!”

“Blakey, please,” she pleaded, breaking out that stupid nickname from when they were kids. “We just need one more team member, and then we’ll be eligible for the league. The girls really want to play, and you’re the best person I could think to ask. So, if you’d please consider it...”

Blake felt his face heating up, and disguised his uncertainty with a cough. There was no resisting Bayley’s charm. But boy, he could try.

“L-Look, I’m flattered, but... I’ve never even held a Splattershot! There has to be a better-“

“Lucky for you, you won’t have to! I have the perfect weapon for you, free of charge. They were from my early days of Turf, but I think they’ll suit you nicely,” Bayley explained with a smile. “I had the girls hold onto them for me. You’ll see once you get there.”

Something in Bayley’s tone struck a chord deep inside him, her face so genuinely pleading that Blake had no choice but to give in. It was almost like when they were kids, Bayley always pulling him along to their next adventure. These adventures had been happening less and less as the years went by, Blake staying in to work on his comics while Bayley went out and made new friends. He wouldn’t admit it, but he missed it, and Bayley’s help was the final push he needed to step out of his comfort zone.

“You know what? I’ll try, just for today,” Blake said with a weak smile. With that, Bayley’s face lit up, and she couldn’t hold back from ruffling the shorter boy’s tentacles under his beanie.

“Thanks, Blake, I really appreciate it you know,” she cooed. “Now, you have to get dressed. Be quick! Don’t want to keep everyone waiting.” Bayley nodded him off, before turning to grab her own gear from the hat rack by the door. She plopped her pinstriped cap over her buzzed tentacle cut, and soon got to work on her shirt and tie. It was unfair, really, how Blake’s own sister could look more boyish than him. How she was taller, stronger, and more charming in every conceivable way. But there was no time to let those thoughts get in the way, because today, Blake had a mission. Win his first ever Turf War, and make his sister proud.

-

“So, where are your friends waiting, anyway?” Blake asked, but his question was soon answered as the twins turned a corner only to come face to face with two other inklings.

“Here we are,” Bayley exclaimed, joining her teammates in leaning against the wall. Blake took a quick look at the others. The first to speak was a short, bouncy girl with floppy teal pigtails held up by a dolphin shaped pin. Her shoes were untied, Blake noticed, and her knees had seen a fair amount of scuffing. Despite that, her inkling fangs struggled not to peek over the edge of her smile when she spoke.

“You’re Bayley’s brother?” the girl asked with a tilt of her head. Blake nodded, before realizing he should probably introduce himself properly.

“Blake,” he said, holding out his hand, “‘S nice to meet you.” The tiny girl almost instantly took his hand in two of her own and gave it a good shaking.

“Nice t’meetcha too! I’m Nettie, and I’m 14 years old! I use the Nozzlenose D, and I’m not the greatest, but I try my best! I’m so super excited to be working with you, I-“

“Now, now, this isn’t a job interview, sweetheart,” the other girl interrupted. This girl was much more intimidating, purple tentacles cut straight across and framing her face in such a way that only her eyes were visible. The rest of her face was obscured by a sleek painter’s mask, but from the way she squinted, you could tell there was a sly smile underneath. Blake noted a beauty mark, just visible above the mask and under her right eye.

“Sorry, Yuna!” Nettie said, before her hand flew over her mouth. “Oops! Did you want to introduce yourself... yourself?”

“No, no, I’m quite alright,” Yuna said, a slight giggle to her voice, waving off Nettie’s apology.

“And together, we’re Ink Blink!” Bayley said proudly. “Nettie, did you keep that box I gave you?”

“Yup! I have it right... Wait, where’d it go?!” Nettie cried, looking and turning in a full circle like a cat chasing its own tail. She came to a halt at Yuna, who was already holding the box in question.

“Yuna! You found that quick,” Nettie mused. “How do you keep doing that?”

“A magician never reveals her tricks, darling. Here you are, Blake.”

Suddenly thrust into his hands was an old shoebox, but from the rattling inside, he knew that it was much more than shoes. Lifting the top cover and pulling off a decent bit of wrapping paper, Blake was met with not one, but two guns: a pair of Splat Dualies. He took the pair out and set the box down, one in each hand. They fit him like a glove. He twirled them around with ease, inspecting them in the sunlight. Despite being his sister’s hand-me-downs, they felt as good as new.

“I knew you’d like it,” Bayley smiled.

"Yeah, right."

They were interrupted by Nettie, who was practically rocking on her feet in anticipation.

"Does that mean we can battle now?" she asked innocently, though it was clear she was a bit impatient.

Bayley chucked and nodded, and with that the group made their way over to the lobby.

"The team we're up against today is called Tidal Wave," Bayley began to explain, "They're another fairly new team, but we shouldn't take them lightly."

"Wait, what is it we're doing exactly?" Blake asked, trailing behind the rest of the group.

"This would be our first placement match in the Turf League," Yuna said over her shoulder.

"What, we're just jumping right into it? Not even a warmup first?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said it was urgent," said Bayley.

There wasn't time for much more discussion once the group entered the lobby, coming face to face with the enemy team.

"Took you long enough," snapped a blue haired inkling boy in a beret. Blake assumed him to be the captain. Baylee crossed her arms and laughed,

"Sorry, we had some matters to attend to first!"

The other team was introduced one by one. The team was composed of three boys, and the captain's older sister. The leader, a confident boy named Ian, was contrasted in every way by his sister, Ryo. She was sleek and mature, blue tentacles combed over one side. One of the other boys, Grant, was decked out in a helmet and war paint, and Blake reminded himself not to mess with him. The last was a shy kid who practically mumbled his introduction, so much so that Blake didn't even catch his name. He wore a purple knit cap that hid most of his face, and he was nearly invisible compared to the other three.

With introductions out of the way, the teams shook hands, and made their way to the battlegrounds.

Today's match took place on a stage called Moray Towers, and if all stages looked like this, Blake now knew why he never left his room. Shoulder to shoulder in their spawning area, Blake dared to peek over the edge of the platform at the cars and buildings hundreds of feet below. He only stopped when he felt his stomach doing backflips. Shrinking back onto his corner of the platform, he clenched his Dualies, quietly waiting for the match to start.

"So, this is your first match, huh?" Nettie asked, not at all helping Blake's nerves. He nodded.

"Awesome!" she cheered, flashing him a toothy grin.

"If you get lost, then I suggest you pick someone and stick with them the rest of the game," Bayley said, giving her brother a pat on the shoulder. They didn't have more time to waste chatting around, however. Speakers buzzed to life, and the voices of two familiar spectators sounded around the stage.

"Yo yo yo! This is Off the Hook, coming at you LIVE from Moray Towers! Marina, tell us what we're here for today!"

"You already know what it is! We're here in our spectator's blimp, reporting the action on the hottest placement match yet!"

"You say that about every match, Mar- Anyway! The matchup for today is Ink Blink vs. Tidal Wave! Two fairly new teams on the Turf League scene: who'll make it out on top?!"

"My guess is as good as yours! Everyone watching at home, be sure to send them your support!"

"Alright, Marina, cut that corny stuff out right now, and I'll let you work the blimp's AC next time. Let's start this thang!"

"Really? Squee~! I mean, er, let's ink it up!"

With that, a siren blared somewhere on the stage, and both teams were off. Bayley started by inking some paths down with her Goo Tuber, while Yuna and Nettie went straight for the middle. Blake decided to follow his sister's lead, inking more paths down to the centre. The Dualies actually weren't that hard to use, it was almost like holding his pen - only if his pen were gun shaped, and there were two of them. He and Bayley helped each other out, only stopping once they got close to the middle.

"I'll be staying up here to snipe," Bayley explained, "You go get into the action!"

Blake nodded shakily, not quite confident in his abilities but still not going to turn his sister down. He swam through the ink and jumped down into the centre, adrenaline rushing through him, to come face to face with captain Ian and his Dualie Squelchers. Seeing the other boy dash into the ink, Ian had found his target, and dived in after him. Walking backwards, Blake tried to fend his attacker off with a barrage of inky bullets. He was faring pretty well, until he ran out of ink. He was about to be splatted when suddenly, a thick blast of ink came from above and splatted Ian in one shot. Blake looked up to find Bayley and her Goo Tuber, charging from up above. She shot him a thumbs up, then pointed towards the enemy base. It then hit him that she was ordering him to move forwards. Gulping, Blake shot a much shakier thumbs up back, and trudged his way through the ink to the other side.

On his way, he passed by Nettie, who was fending off the shy boy with a Luna Blaster Neo. She yelped and dashed away, ducking behind Blake after having taken too much damage. Without thinking, he tossed a quick Burst Bomb, finishing off Nettie's attacker in an explosion of ink. The girl let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... thanks, Blakey!" Nettie called, and Blake hoped she hadn't picked that nickname up from his sister. He chose to ignore it.

"Where's Yuna?" he asked instead, "I haven't seen her since the start." The two inklings pushed onward, inking the ground as they talked.

"I think she's climbing the towers! She's sneaky like that," said Nettie. Checking their map, sure enough, Yuna was up at the top, cooking enemies as they respawned. Though, it seemed someone had slipped past her guard, and had set off an Ink Storm coming in their direction. Yuna was forced to jump down and join Nettie and Blake in the center.

"Ryo and her brother seemed to have teamed up against me," Yuna huffed. "I see... Tenta Missiles... in our future..."

She barely got the words out of her mouth when they saw Ian up above, letting loose a barrage of missiles that locked onto all three of them. Blake froze like a deer in headlights as the shadows loomed over him. Rolling her eyes, Yuna grabbed him by the arm and Super Jumped to Bayley, dragging him with her to safety. Nettie wasn't so lucky, and took enough damage for all three of them.

Yuna landed with grace, crouched into a ninja-like pose. Blake on the other hand landed flat on his feet, keeling backwards from the impact and nearly falling off the stage before Bayley caught him by the shoulder.

"You two came back quickly," said Bayley.

"M-M-Missiles," Blake stuttered out, finally coming back to earth.

"You've got some missiles of your own, though, don't you?" Yuna noted, but Blake's response was cut off by the return of a certain inkling.

"Yunaaa~!" Nettie cried after respawning, "That was really mean, you know! You left me for the fishes!"

"My apologies, sweetheart," Yuna cooed, ignoring Nettie's pouty face, "It's just that we have other priorities today. And one of them happens to be keeping this prune on the team," she added in a whisper. Nettie giggled, seeming to understand.

"Come on, you guys, we don't have much time to waste," Bayley ordered. Sure enough, time was running out, and Tidal Wave had already claimed the centre.

"Ooh, Miss Bayley, can we do our special attack?" Nettie asked sweetly. A nod from Bayley made her face light up. Without further questioning Bayley knelt down for Nettie to climb onto her shoulders. When she stood up, Nettie's height had almost doubled. The two of them made their way down the ramp to the middle, both firing their weapons all the way.

"We could use some Special action from you two," Bayley called up to Blake and Yuna, the latter of which already pulling out her Sting Ray. Following her lead, Blake pulled out his Missile Launcher. It was heavier than it had looked when Ian fired them earlier, but he managed to keep his balance and lock onto all four Tidal Wave members from his vantage point. This, combined with Yuna's Sting Ray combing the area, made it easy for the Bayley-Nettie duo to regain control of the centre. Once their Specials had finished, Yuna swam down to join the others, motioning for Blake to join her.

Less than a minute left. Better make it count!

A heavy stream of ink bullets rained down from above as Grant, a Hydra Splatling user, tried to clear the way for his team. Soon enough he was joined by the other three, and the battle was in its prime. Nettie jumped off Bayley's shoulders and right into her Inkjet, the force of her attacks propelling her backwards. In the meantime, Bayley was taken down in a surprise attack by Ian. Who in turn was taken out by Yuna. Blake watched in awe as the battle played out before him, before realizing he should probably do something. With the last few seconds on the clock, the boy dived into the fray, inking up as much turf as he could before-

A siren sounded, ending the match, and everyone froze. The teams waited, jittery from anticipation, until the speakers buzzed to life once again.

"And that's a wrap! Pearlie, mind giving us the results?"

"The results? Oh! The results! I got 'em right here! Shoutout to our buddies Judd and Li'l Judd for tallying these up!"

"Cut to the chase!"

"Alright, alright, I got it! The winners of this first placement match are..."

"Gulp..."

"Team Ink Blink! Good stuff, everyone! Let's make it a superfresh season!"

-

Dripping with pride and excess ink, the teams made their way back out into the square. Nettie had gotten tired of walking somewhere on the climb back up Moray Towers, and was resting on Bayley's back.

"So, how was your first match?" Bayley asked over her shoulder, causing Nettie to look back and smile.

"Better than expected," Blake replied. Even though the match was over, he was still holding his Splat Dualies. It was surprisingly fun, just spinning them around in his hands.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Bayley mused.

"You'll be joining us for next week's match too, right?" Nettie called.

"I don't suppose you'll be flaking out on  
us," Yuna poked.

Blake smirked. Perhaps being a part of Ink Blink wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. Three's a Crowd

 

Two inkling girls practice inside the training room. Both with purple tentacles. The taller girl was helping the smaller one. She had a denim hat, with a semi-long tentacle cut. The shorter one had pigtails, and a large pair of glasses. The older girl spoke.

“Now Kattie, when you are facing off against someone, you always have to know the range difference. Since you are using a Splattershot Jr., you won’t be able to out range others, but with that Splat bomb, you can apply a lot of pressure.” The girl continued her ramblings, not letting Kate really do anything, not even against a training dummy. All of the words and phrases confused Kate. She spoke up for herself.

“Emily, are you at least going to let me try these tips? I keep forgetting what you tell me to do since you keep moving on.” Emily looked at the smaller inkling, and realized she was right. “Uhh, whoops, sorry about that sis.” she said rubbing the back of her head, while giving a very light, embarrassed laugh.

“It’s fine,” was all that Kate replied. “Now, let’s try using that Splat Bomb.” Emily backed up, giving the younger inkling some space. Kate looked at one of the dummies across the training room. She threw the bomb as far as she could, but it didn’t splat the dummy, it only did a little bit of damage. Kate sighed in disappointment, and put her head down. Emily watched, and approached her sister.

She leaned over and gave a hug to Emily. Kate smiled, placing her hand on her older sister’s arm. The two didn’t need to say anything, they hugged, and understood everything.

The sibling bonding was interrupted by a preppy inkling entering the room. She had bright pink tentacles that were in a single ponytail. She had a white tank top and a neon pink skirt. She also was carrying a clipboard, and a stack of flyers. Her entrance was very loud.

“Hello darlings!” she said, as if she was emitting sparkles around her. The other girls looked at the other inkling as she posed elegantly. At least, as elegantly as she could. Emily chuckled to herself. _“She’s early,”_ The purple tentacle girl thought as she approached the other girl. “What did you do this time?” the girl questioned, crossing her arms.

The pink tentacle girl knew she couldn’t try to hide, so she gave an awkward laugh. “Well, they said I was being a nuisance and told me to leave.” Emily gave a sigh and put her hand across her nose, “Jillian, this is the fourth time you’ve been kicked out of somewhere. We can’t get our fourth recruit if we’re not allowed to advertise.”

“I’m sorry,” Jillian spoke, with a tone of upsetness. “You tell me to have energy, and get them interested in the team.” “Maybe try not to have too much energy,” Emily said, a little frustrated. The captain mumbled to herself, “What am I going to do now?...”

Kate and Jill exchanged looks, both of which were pity for Emily. The two looked at each other, as if they were reading each other's minds. The two nodded simultaneously. Emily didn’t see the exchange, until Kate ran next to Jillian.

“Hey Emmie,” Kate spoke up. Her older sister looked up at her younger sister. “We can try putting a flyer on the battle bulletin.” Emily shot straight up.

“Battle bulletin?” she asked with confusion.

“Yeah, Sheldon put it up in his shop upstairs just yesterday.”

Jillian interjected, “Yeah, I saw it when I came down just now.”

“Well then what are we waiting for!? Let’s get up there!” Emily cheered happily, her emotions turning completely around. The three of them ran upstairs, grabbing their belongings and heading upstairs back to the shop.

Once the trio made it upstairs, it didn’t take them long to find the board. It was overflowing with papers and forms. They looked around to find any open spot. “There!” Kate pointed to a small, empty spot. Emily grabbed a loose tack off the board, and a flyer from Jill’s stack. She quickly pinned it on the board. “There!” she said proudly. She smiled, happy to see her small poster stick out from all the other teams and tournament papers.

“Now what?” Jillian asked, trying to hold a the flyers in one hand. Emily turned to her and giggled. “Well first, you can throw the rest of those flyers away. Jill smiled with relief, as she dropped the pile right into the trash can.

Emily put her finger to her chin, and began tapping it. “You know what I think.” The other girls looked at Emily, waiting what she had to say. The smile on Emily’s face didn’t hide anyones excitement. “I think it’s time we upgrade.” Kate and Jillian both cocked their heads. Emily laughed to herself. “You guys should go pick out a new weapon, I’ll pay for it.” Jillian smiled brightly, and quickly darted off, looking for her new weapon.

Kate began to search around. With all the shooters, chargers, rollers, splattlings, blasters, sloshers, it was so overwhelming for the girl. “I recommend sticking with a shooter. Kate jumped at the sudden sound of her sister’s voice. She looked at Emily, then back at the array of weapons in front of her. She was looking around, until a Splattershot Jr., but it had a sticker of a star on the side. “What makes that weapon different from the one I have?” she asked Emily, pointing to the Jr.. Emily leaned in closer to the weapon she was talking about. “Oh, that’s the Custom Splattershot Jr.. It fires like your Jr., but instead of splat bomb and ink armor, it has auto bomb and inkstorm. I think you’ll like it.”

Kate stared in awe at the weapon. She knew about the auto bombs. She always thought they would the cutest thing. “I think I’ll get this one. Something new, but different.” Emily smiled. “I agree, it’s perfect for ya.” Emily the wrapped her arms around her younger sister and gave her a hug again.

The mood was once again interrupted by Jillian, bursting in from out of nowhere. “I found it! The perfect weapon!” she shouted. The two sisters jumped from the sudden yelling. “What weapon?” Emily asked, releasing from the smaller squid. Jillian held up the shooter she wanted. “A .96 Gal Deco?” Emily questioned. “Yeah!” Jill said with excitement. “It so sparkly, and so pretty! I can hear the weapon calling to me.” her eyes continued to widen and sparkle as the small jews on the gun sparkled in the light.

“Have you ever even played a weapon like that?” Emily questioned, putting a hand on her hip. Kate simply watched the conversation between the two girls. “I used the charger, they both are long ranged. They can’t be THAT different.” Jill said, still holding the weapon tighty. Emily put her other hand on her. “They are very different Jill.”

“Well it doesn’t matter cause I already bought it!” jillian sadi with excitement. Emily looked at her teammate dead in the eye. “You what!? Jillian, I said I would pay for it.” Emily said, with a hint of frustration in her voice. The preppy girl kept her bright smile. “I’m gonna buy what I want, you already do so much. You don’t need to waste money on lil’ ol’ me.” Emily sighed, “oh well… I still need to pay for Katie's new gun.”

She turned to her sister, who was handing coins to Sheldon across the counter.

Emily looked at her sister, disappointed. “Come on guys, why can’t you let me do anything nice for you?” Jill walked next to her and wrapped her arm around the captain’s waist. “You do so much for the team already, you don’t need to over work yourself.” She winked and stuck out her tongue, smiling.

Emily pouted. Jillian laughed and Kate giggled. Seeing the other two laugh, Emily couldn’t help herself, so she smiled as well.

 

The three inklings walked out of the weapon shop chatting amongst themselves. “Hey sis, how come you didn’t buy a new weapon?” Emily looked at Kate, “simple, I’m happy with my Foil Flingza Roller.”

Emily spoke to both of her teammates. I want you guys to get started with these weapons. So I’m gonna take you out somewhere to practice.” Kate smiled from ear to ear, “that sounds like a really good idea! I’ve wanted to actually go to a turf place myself.”

‘What do you think Jill?” Emily turned to her friend, who was looking ahead, and looked kinda shocked. “Jill?” Emily repeated herself, waving her hand in front of the taller girl.

The preppy girl shook her head, snapping back into reality. She got closer to her teammates, her smile was bigger than ever. “It’s him! It’s him!” Kate was the first to react and ask, “It’s who?” Jillian calmed down when she spoke the name. “Bayley…” she swooned.

Kate was able to catch her, and the two sister both said simultaneously. “Bayley?!?” Jillian stood up at the mention of the girl’s name. “Of course!” the girl exclaimed as she began her rant. “He’s amazing!! he’s charming and lovely and- oh, you wouldn’t believe this, but he understands me so well! I haven’t even talked to him yet but I just know, you know? It feels like we have something in common already!!”

Emily and Kate exchanged a glance at each other, then back to Jillian, who looked like she was lost in a dream and not drooling over Bayley. “Y-yeah, more than a few things in common actually....” Emily spoke hesitantly. Jillian did not hear her.

The sisters hooked around the drooling girl’s arms, and dragged her up to the battle tower. Kate whispered to her older sister, Jill didn’t hear either of them. “Do you think we should tell Jill that Bayley’s a girl?” Emily shook her head. “She seems really happy about it. If we tell her, she won’t believe us, and her heart will be broken even more.” Kate nodded understandably.

The two dragged the pink tentacle girl into the battle tower, hoping she would come back to the real world soon.

  



End file.
